Homegrown Label lahoS’ Latest Collection Wrestles With The Very Notion of Masculinity

In Akhada, its latest Spring/Summer 2025 collection, lahoS, the Delhi-based label by Sukhchain Singh Sohal, turns its attention to the soil of the Akhada (wrestling arena) and deep-rooted legacies of Punjab. It even wrestles with the concept of masculinity itself; but it isn't reduced to brute strength but rather rendered through a more complex lens - one where discipline, ritual, and community are just as vital as physical prowess.

The name lahoS itself - a reversal of Sohal's surname - speaks volumes about the brand’s ethos. Established after Sohal’s return to India following a life in the UK, lahoS is a reclamation of the expectations often tied to diasporic Punjabi identity. It undoes the limitations established by Western depictions of luxury, success and appearance, and has created an organic, hybrid aesthetic that fuses Eastern silhouettes with contemporary tailoring and street sensibility.

With Akhada, lahoS zooms into a particular cornerstone of Punjabi culture: Pehlwani — the traditional mud wrestling art form that once flourished across the region but is now quietly fading from public view. In the collection's narrative short film, a young man named Aman steps into the symbolic wrestling pit, learning that true strength lies not in domination, but in patience, practice, and pride. "This process was extremely personal and grounding," Sohal has shared on his label’s social media, describing how Pehlwani, an unspoken part of his own family heritage, became the wellspring for the collection.

The designs themselves are steeped in the elements of Pehlwani as well as Punjabi culture. From a palette that ranges earthy browns, sunny ambers, and muted navies, the pieces are crafted from raw, breathable fabrics sourced locally and carefully embroidered in-house at lahoS' Delhi atelier. The Sait Set, a staple in the lahoS archive, returns here in new colourways, anchoring the collection with a familiar yet evolved uniformity. The limited-run garments - kurta salwars, split jackets, and sportswear-inspired tailoring - evoke both the discipline of the Akhada (wrestling ring) and the dignity associated with traditional Punjab - but are meant for the modern sartorialist who loves to stay individualistic in their look.

Beyond the final garments, the Akhada campaign leans into its references: from the legendary Great Gama — the undefeated wrestling champion of British India — to the folk songs and paintings that once celebrated the everyday rituals of strength and kinship. The soundtrack for the collection even pulls from real-life accounts and echoes of wrestling lore, like the famed Pehlwani Tehl (wrestling oil) produced by Sohal’s own family in Jagraon. In refusing to romanticize or oversimplify, lahoS offers far more than a Spring/Summer campaign for 2025. Rather, it offers a perspective on masculinity that is steeped in both pride and tenderness. It challenges the usual tropes of Punjabi machismo, offering instead a portrait of manhood shaped by care, repetition, and the quiet dignity of staying rooted — even as the world shifts around you.

Akhada doesn’t just resurrect a dying art; it reimagines what strength means today. Through meticulous craftsmanship, cultural memory, and a lived-in connection to Panjab’s fields and Akhadas, lahoS finds resonance with those whose identities are layered, grounded, and defiantly their own.

Follow lahoS here.

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